I could hear the pounding rhythm section and smoking lead guitar halfway down the block. When I walked into the Continental Club (3700 Main, 713-529-9899), the Thursday-night happy hour was well under way, and the Clay Farmer Band had everyone in the place either two-steppin’ in front of the stage or sipping their beers in time with the music. Summer was behind the bar, opening up longnecks as fast as the crowd (and the band) could consume them. She seemed rather impatient with me for trying to order something other than beer. “Just tell me what you want,” she said before disappearing again. Finally she threw a bartending book at me, but it didn’t yield any interesting recipes. When the crowd at the bar thinned out a little, we attempted our own concoction — filled with so many different liquors that I might as well have been drinking the slush at the bottom of the sink. “Here, give me that,” she said. “I’ll give you what my sister drinks when she comes here.” From where I was standing, it looked like a greyhound, but soda and limes offset the tartness of the grapefruit juice. The place was sweltering, so I slammed the first two that she poured. Then I tipped the band with my last two dollar bills and sat back to sip the third as I toasted Summer and her sister.
The Continental Club’s Summer’s Sister:
1 1/2 ounces Skyy Citrus
1 ounce grapefruit juice
Splash soda water
2 lime wedges
Pour vodka and grapefruit juice over ice in a highball glass. Top off with a splash of soda water. Garnish with lime wedges.
This article appears in May 2-8, 2002.